Sterns returns to Riders' roster for Saturday's showdown against Elks
12h ago
The Riders made some roster moves ahead of the game against the Edmonton Elks.
Hockey is back and the sound of the game on TV is music to the ears of the operators of sports bars in Regina.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL hosted the Stanley Cup playoffs in a bubble in Edmonton over the summer. That led to a later start date for the 2020-21 regular season, which began Wednesday.
“It’s incredibly exciting. We’ve had so many people call about reservations, (so) we’re expecting to be pretty full. Everything is exciting. We’ve got hockey back and it’s kind of the light at the end of the tunnel,” Trevor Friesen, the general manager of the Canadian Brewhouse Eastgate, said Wednesday.
“We’re expecting to be full capacity (with a) lineup at the door and we’ll take it because it has been a long time since we’ve had that.”
Due to current restrictions, Friesen said his establishment can currently have about 50 per cent of its normal capacity inside.
“You kind of see a little bit of setback when people don’t want to go out. We’re a sports bar so we’re showing as many sports as we can on a regular basis,” Friesen said.
George Yannitsos, the owner of the 4Seasons sports bar, said the NHL returning offers a sense of normality for people.
“Whether you’re enjoying it here at the 4Seasons or you’re at home and enjoying it, it really helps us get through these tough, tough months now,” he said.
“The vaccines are around the corner and in March and April, the weather gets warmer and we’re able to get outside. But in January and February, we need something to help us get through it and I think the NHL is going to be a wonderful distraction.”
Yannitsos said the 4Seasons managed to have a loyal crowd throughout the NFL season and he expects the same thing to happen for the NHL season.
He said part of this is due to the NHL’s all-Canadian division, which means Canadian teams will only play other Canadian teams.
Due to the impact of COVID, he said business is at around 25 per cent of what it would normally be.
“We’re one of the lucky ones where we have enough room to still put 50 people in my establishment and I feel for others with these restrictions,” Yannitsos said.
“(When we were closed), the one thing was we always hoped we could reopen and so no matter how bad the business is, it is much, much better than those other businesses in the jurisdictions that closed.”